


Revelation

by MarioMisc



Series: Revelation Splatoon AU [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Agent 8 is there for like a second, Alternate Universe, Angst, Anxiety, Backstory, Established Relationship, F/F, Genocide, Headcanons and canon lore, Hurt/Comfort, Military, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Pearl and Marina are the main focus, Pearlina, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Torture, War, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-05 11:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarioMisc/pseuds/MarioMisc
Summary: Marina feels the need to hide her species out of fear of Inkling prejudice, and she is doing it in plain sight. Pearl frowns at the thought of that taking a major toll on Marina’s mental health. To think of what Marina thinks Pearl would possibly do if she was to find out about her species and past.She needs to talk to Marina when she returns home.





	1. Newfound Knowledge

“LOOK OUT!”

Agent 8 was nearly splatted as a Sanitized Octoling sprayed a bullet towards him. With a fierce dodge, Eight shot back and killed the enemy.

Pearl was not complaining about volunteering her time to watch over Eight with Marina. She was super bored at the time. Writer’s block had killed any of her motivation to work. Though, she had preferred to not experience mini heart attacks every few minutes while Eight was testing. As well as that, Marina was constantly pointing out how suspicious things were about the Deepsea Metro, given the weird slang the telephone used and how lifeless the Sanitized enemies seemed, which only made Pearl more worried for Eight’s safety. 

Marina had seemed extremely passionate about helping Eight, and while Pearl wanted to help too, she was surprised at just how dedicated Marina was to helping him. She would constantly worry about Eight even when the boy wasn’t testing. What was causing this? Yes, the two have similar features. Eight spoke Inkling with a similar accent to Marina. Neither’s eyes are connected. Both have suction cups on the outsides of their tentacles rather than on the insides. Pearl doubted that Marina was so passionate about helping Eight just because they looked similar. Inklings loved fashion, but did not tend to care about looks when someone was wearing just plain black attire. Pearl knew that Marina looked very different from most Inkopolian Inklings, but still. Did the two have previous history in Marina’s home region or something? Pearl wasn’t normally a heavy thinker, but she couldn’t help but think as much as she could about this. It involved Marina, who she truly cared about. She just wanted to know what was really going through her head.

She never knew that an old squid who she had only known for a few days would answer her question.

Marina has gone shopping while Pearl is sitting at home on her phone. Just a little description of Marina to Eight ends up somehow leading to Cuttlefish releasing some very revealing information about Marina to Pearl. The Inkling has not a single clue how the old man had gotten access to the files, but she doesn't care. All she does care about is the content.

Marina used to be an Octarian combat engineer, and Pearl knows that Octolings used to hate Inklings from history class. Do they still now though? Why would Marina work for the military when she was just a child at her time under the Octarians? Only such radical regimes would allow that. Is Marina some undercover Octarian agent? Is she a currently good-intending person who happens to have a bad past? Whichever one it is, the content explains everything. It explains why Marina has so many nightmares. It explains why she seems so enthusiastic to support Eight, a guy who must be an Octoling as well given their similar appearance and accent. It explains why Marina seems so timid whenever someone looks closely at her or is near her.

Marina feels the need to hide her species out of fear of Inkling prejudice, and she is doing it in plain sight. Pearl frowns at the thought of that taking a major toll on Marina’s mental health. To think of what Marina thinks Pearl would possibly do if she was to find out about her species and past.

She needs to talk to Marina when she returns home.

By the late afternoon, Pearl hears a knock on the door. She is nervous but at the same time relieved that Marina has finally returned.

“Hey, what’s up?” Pearl greets Marina as she walks through the door with three green, stuffed plastic bags. She attempts to look friendly with a grin, but it ends up looking more like a stressed face than anything else.

“Hi, Pearlie, I’m good! I missed you so much!” Marina says with a smile. She then proceeds to hug Pearl.

However, when Marina releases Pearl, she notices Pearl’s facial expression. Her face lowers and she takes up a serious facial expression. “Um… are you okay?”

“Huh? Me? Yeah! I’m fine!” Pearl’s fake smile widens. “Why?”

“You look distressed. Did something happen while I was gone?”

Pearl decides to put on a straight face and replies, “Nah, Reena. Everything’s fine! Don’t worry about a thing!”

Marina smiles a bit and responds, “Glad to hear that. How’s Eight?”

“Eight? He’s just doing the usual. Splattin’ baddies, gatherin’ up those Thangs… Octo’s alright.” She immediately covered her mouth after. Referring to Eight as an Octo was a mistake.

Marina stepped back with a tiny, shocked gasp and a new, terrified facial expression. She said in a low voice, “Um… also g-glad to h-hear...” She pointed a thumb behind her towards the kitchen. “I’m gonna go unpack the groceries. Then I’m just gonna be in my room a bit, alright? You could r-relax here or something.” She doesn’t wait for a response. She walks quickly into the kitchen to place the groceries away.

Great job, Pearl thinks, just fantastic. Now ya scared the living crap out of your girlfriend. You just had to say that. This is important, Pearl! This is for Marina’s mental health!

Pearl unleashes a loud, long sigh and slowly walks into the kitchen, shaking. She sees Marina shoving the groceries into cabinets frantically, going through bag after bag. She is frowning and breathing quickly and heavily.

When she looks up, she sees Pearl looking right at her and gasps with terrified eyes.

“Marina, please calm down! I’m not mad at you or anything! Please, I just… I need to talk to you about something and I’m sure you know of what it is.”

There was a long pause in between as both girls were trying to think about what to say, until Marina finally spoke, “H-how much do you know?”

Another long pause...

Pearl put her arms by her side. “I’m sorry Marina, b-b-but I’ve gotta be blunt. “I know your military history. I-I know that you’re Octarian. I’m not trying to talk to you because-”

Pearl didn’t finish her sentence. Marina immediately sprinted for her room. Pearl follows, but the door is shut before she can get in.

“REENA!! PLEASE!!” Pearl yells into the door.

No response.

“I’m not mad at you at all! I know how much you’ve been struggling with this! I just want to help you!”

“H-how do I know y-you’re t-t-telling the truth?” A nervous voice responds.

“Why would I lie to you?! I care about you so much!”

“We’re supposed to hate each other! I-I don’t know what your actual o-opinion is!”

“I don’t give a fuck if you’re an Inkling or an Octoling, Marina! The war happened a hundred years ago. Many of us just don’t care about species anymore!”

Silence occurs for a few more moments until Pearl heard a loud sob from the other side of the door.

 

Pearl decides to soften her voice, and says, “Reena… I’ve been your best friend for almost three years. We’ve been dating for a few weeks. I’m not just going to abandon you since it turned out you were an Octoling, not an Inkling. As for your past, you should know I would try to talk to you about it rather than just abandon you on the spot. We’re too close for that to be a reaction of mine.”

No noise from the other side.

Pearl continues, “I’m sorry I raised my voice. I let my emotions take over. Truth be told, I’m scared about your health, Marina. I don’t know what will happen to you if this continues. It’s been occurring right under my nose for the past few years and I know that it has caused damage to you.”

That was a good enough response. Marina opens the door, and her facial expression devastates Pearl. Rivers of tears are slowly running down her cheeks as Pearl pulls Marina into a deep hug.

After a few quiet moments, Pearl lets go. Marina steps back to let Pearl in and the two sit side by side on Marina’s bed.

“I’m so sorry…” Marina whispers.

Pearl places a hand on Marina’s shoulder and looks at her.

“Marina, please talk to me. I’m sorry this whole thing today happened out of nowhere. I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through and what you still are going through. It all needs to end. Please…”

“I’ve wanted to talk to someone ever since I first came to Inkopolis. I-I-I needed help in almost every way and you provided much of it,” Marina shakes her head, “but I didn’t think I could talk to you about either of those.”

Pearl removed her hand from the shoulder and lowered her head with a frown.

“Don’t hesitate, Marina. Let as much out as you need.”

Marina sighed. “O-okay.”


	2. Backstory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where most of the dark stuff mentioned in the tags are, so if you’re uncomfortable with any of that content, you probably shouldn’t read this chapter.

A distraught voice began, “Y-You know how it all started. Inklings and Octarians used to live on the surface together peacefully until the Octarians declared war. My species was just too fearful for the rising tides that ate away at their land.

The Octarians after put Inkopolis under siege until Inkling partisans raided the Octarian bases and unplugged the power sources for the Great Octoweapons. They had relied on them so much, that they had to go on the defense. Once they got onto it, however, they kept getting pushed back, all the way to land below sea level until they had to surrender.

The Inklings were not kind to the Octarians. The species had lost all of their surface land to the Inklings. They were forcibly deported to domes underground. Octo Valley and Octo Canyon became international grounds.

Peace may have come for the Inklings, who started to prosper after the war, but it never came to the Octarians.

This is what they don’t teach you:

The Octarian Republic before the war was a democracy just like the Republic of the Inklings. Both were prosperous but the Octarian government faced corruption. It was the military’s puppet. It had so much influence in the government that it had convinced the Octarian government to start the war.

They tried to continue the government in the domes, but it didn’t work. There were too many people and too little space. Everybody was freaking out over how they had to adapt to their new environment. Extremist Octarian supremacists began attacking Inklings near the border.

There would be a military coup only a year after the war’s end. General Octavio, a popular war hero of the Great Turf War, became the military dictator of the republic. He proceeded to turn it upside-down and rule for a very long time.

Considering the stupid reason why we lost the war and how much we lost because of it, he wanted nothing but revenge. He funded terrorist groups to attack more innocent Inklings. The Inklings had abandoned their military though so they couldn’t fight back. They underwent a regime change too, and the new one was pacifist by the people’s will. The Inklings lost a lot of people during the war and did not want anything like it to happen again.

There was opposition to his rule but all of it would be brutally crushed. Rebels were massacred. He started a widespread propaganda campaign in the republic shortly after taking office. Because of it, newer generations were learning that Inklings were barbarians who hoped to genocide the Octarians and that we had to join the military for the defense of our species, i-i-including me.

The defense would include the ultimate goal: the complete extermination of the Inkling species and the moving of all Octarians back onto the surface.

I was born to a small town bordering the sea in the domes not too long ago. My father was one of the greatest generals in the republic and a personal friend of Octavio’s. My mother was a combat engineer.

However, I was born in a terrible time. When I was six, my town was raided by Salmonids. We were forced to flee to the capital, Octavia. This started off as just occasional events but over the years they happened more and more often. They would not be very coordinated...

...until when I was eight. The Salmonids suddenly declared war and they went on to invade across the whole border. They were tired of living underwater and wanted land to live on. Many Octarian soldiers, mostly teens, were sent to fight them… but they were too fast and too strong, even with their inferior weapons. The Great Octoweapons were outdated and the combat engineers at the time were unable to figure out how to improve upon them.

My father, however, revered for his great strategies, would be able to get soldiers to push back the Salmonids a bit.

The war lasted for what felt like an eternity.

By age nine, I graduated from school. My knowledge and grades shocked the teachers and the government. The latter forced the school to make me skip most of the upcoming grades and take entirely advanced courses. The next year, I was tasked among five other Octarians on a great project: The Flooder. I was the only child there; every other Octarian was a young adult. It was this huge weapon that consisted of a moving platform that shot strong beams of Octarian ink from under it, lethal to Inklings and Salmonids. Together we would finish it in two years and it would be used in combat. The Salmonids were greatly weakened and pushed back.

However, it wouldn’t last. Salmonids began learning how to avoid falling prey to the Flooders and would begin to conquer more territory. By the time I was thirteen, Octavia was under siege, where my workplace was.

The six of us in the same year were assigned to update the Great Octoweapons. They’d thought the Flooder would finish them, but they clearly didn’t, so they needed us to work on them and finish them as quickly as possible.

The Octarian government was foolish. They didn’t move our workplace after Octavia went under siege. They’d guarded it as if it was a treasure chest full of a lifetime’s worth of gold, but that wouldn’t be enough to make me comfortable.

We worked to the sound of screams in the air, to the sounds of bombs dropping from Octarian planes, and so much more. It started driving me insane.

Then… the worst happened.

The Salmonids raided our base…

...and I was the only survivor.

I ran, and I kept running, but I didn’t know where I was going.

I just wanted to run into crossfire and die.

I couldn’t take it anymore… I just couldn’t. The yelling… the bombs… EVERYTHING!”

Marina puts her hands to her face, silent. After a few moments, she removes them and continues.

“But, my feelings didn’t matter. 

The feelings of the workers didn’t matter to the Octarian government.

They didn’t care if you were miserable.

They didn’t care if you desperately just wanted to die.

They put us all under immense pressure, especially the group of six I was in. My group… we were not allowed to eat until we’d get to a certain point in our work and it usually got to the point where we’d feel like death itself by the end. My father hated how they treated me. It caused a grudge to form between him and Octavio.

I’d end up being captured by the Salmonids. Finally, I was going to be put to rest.

But no.

I was only tortured for a week under their captivity. They would repeatedly shoot me in the legs but wouldn’t let me bleed out. They would cut me but in non-lethal places. I-I can’t bring myself to explain anymore of it...

Long story short, I’d be freed. My father would lead raids on many Salmonids bases in desperate attempts to find me, until they finally succeeded.

I remember being in my father’s arms. I weeped. I just wanted to go home. I was too weak to continue to work any longer. H-he promised me I wouldn’t have to. He said he was going to talk to Octavio and see if someone else was able to take over. He was going to tell him that Marina could not work anymore.

But the Octarian government just didn’t care about my well-being.

They’d give me a few days to recover, but after I was be forced to finish the Great Octoweapons on my own. My mom would provide some assistance, but she was old and only was able to do limited amounts of work. No other people were qualified enough to work on the weapons.

I’d finally finish them by the time I was fourteen. The weapons would be used in combat against the Salmonids and they ended up being the straw that broke the camel’s back to them. They were simply no match to them.

The Salmonids surrendered a few weeks after. 

Octavio then proposed for the mass killing of all the Salmonid settlers to occur.

Truth be told, while the goal of the Octarians was to genocide the Inklings, I never believed in it. I let myself believe almost everything they told me… about how we needed to take the surface back, about how the Inklings were barbarians, but not that part. It was always off to me, but I knew I couldn’t say anything about it.

So, I couldn’t let him do that. I-i-it’s horrible. The war had caused the deaths of five million Octarians. The last thing that was needed was more destruction.

They wanted to use the Great Octoweapons and the Flooders to initiate the killings. My father was on my side and tried his best to get some sense into Octavio...

...and somehow, it actually worked.

My father told him about how the Inklings would want to have a word with him if he committed genocide, and it snapped him back into reality. Instead of killing the settlers, he decided to peacefully send them back to the sea.

I still think today about what would have happened if Octavio didn’t back down. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. My weapons would be used to initiate one of the worst war crimes imaginable.

Even with the genocide canned and the war over, the Octarians still faced problems because of the war.

The government was poor. They had spent so much money on the war that they couldn’t supply basic power to Octarians anymore.

Ironically, the people had always survived based on trade between the Inklings and the Octarians. I know now that the Inklings only participated out of pity for the Octarians.

The Octarians were able to continue this trade but the Octarians had no power. As a result, the goods made were of much lesser quality. The Inklings cooperated though, which I am forever thankful for.

Back to myself, after the war, I was finally allowed to retire, an opportunity that surprised everyone.

I became revered among the Octarian people like my father. They called me a war hero.

My parents took care of me and were so loving to me during my retirement time. They had helped me with my PTSD and they’re the reason why I’ve gotten so much better. When I first retired, I was barely functional outside of work.

But, there is no happy ending for a person in the Octarian Republic.

They were both assassinated when I was sixteen by someone who had supported the Salmonid genocide. I’d then spent the rest of my underground life under Octavio’s ‘direct care.’ He couldn’t give less of a shit about my well-being and often neglected me. That’s how I learned to take care of myself a lot.

His primary focus was on reconstruction of the land destroyed in the war and then getting power back for the Octarians.

When I had first moved in with him, the Octarian Republic was under a state of emergency.

We had stolen the Great Zapfish from the Inklings days prior. It was basically our only choice. We thought they wouldn’t respond, that they would just shrug it off. The Inkling government was too pacifist to do so and this was nothing compared to the genocide proposition.

We were all wrong.

The Inkling government had allowed a private splatoon to form: the New Squidbeak Splatoon. It was led by a war hero of the Great Turf War, Captain Cuttlefish.

The splatoon would send a fourteen year old Inkling soldier into the underground. He was brutal. He killed whoever got in his way until he finally made it to Octavio.

A fight alongside a concert began. It was Octavio versus the Inkling soldier. Octavio was a disc jockey and began playing music to hype up the Octarians watching, including me.

But then the Inklings started playing their music.

The song “Calamari Inkantation” by the Squid Sisters reached my ears. What happened after was something I still can’t figure out to this day, but it is something I am forever thankful for.

The song took over my brain. I remember so many new ideas entering my head at once. I kept hearing a voice encouraging me to leave, and I did so without thinking. I followed the voice to the surface involuntarily but it was something I would not ever regret.

The song is lethal to the Octarian mindset. It hijacks our brains but for the better. Inklings must be so attached to music that they can make some with magical effects because that’s what the Calamari Inkantation is; magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to make this four chapters for now, though it may be more if I decide to expand the story beyond its original scope. I’ve been writing a lot lately, so it might come out this weekend as well.


	3. The Octarian Inkling

“The effects would wear off shortly after I made it to the surface. W-when I got there, I didn’t know what to think. I was confused about what just happened, but at the same time, I was finally free from Octavio’s hell.

But reality would stab me in my hearts.

There, to my right, was the Inkling soldier. He was armed with a Hero Shot. We were both on the beach, alone. Just the two of us.

We both made eye contact. My Inkling was horrendous. I understood a general amount of the language but I had a very tough time speaking it. Nonetheless, I tried to talk to him.

I remember yelling ‘Mister!’ to him, but he didn’t seem to understand. My accent was just too thick.

He kept staring at me until he started walking towards me. I started stepping back, still looking at him.

He had a serious look in his eyes; one that showed no mercy.

He took out his gun in one fluid movement and pointed it right at me. I had no weapons but decent armor to defend myself with, but even so, he had better armor than mine.

Despite the imbalance of power, I remember not being afraid. All of those experiences with the Salmonids and working as a combat engineer toughened me up.

‘So that’s how it’s going to be,’ I said. I’m not sure if he understood what I said but my tone made my intentions clear. I was going to fight him.

‘State your name!’ I remember him saying.

I remained silent and just gave him a threatening look.

‘Do you really want to mess with me? I’ve killed hundreds of your fellow soldiers! You Octarians all are so full of yourselves! Look where it has gotten you all!’ He said.

He had a point in regards to the military, but I fought back, saying ‘Listen up! I don’t want to fight you, but if you’re willing to hurt me, then you won’t see what’s coming!’

I again don’t know if he understood me. Either way, he started firing. I started running as fast as I can, dodging bullet after bullet. My goal was to get close to him and hopefully disarm him.

The training I got ultimately paid off. I ran to the deck and sneaked my way through to the opposite stairs. I hid behind many objects until I successfully tackled him from behind and snatched the gun from his hands. On top of him, I pointed the gun right at his head. I refused to pull the trigger, but hoped he would soon get the message and surrender.

But then, everything went blank.

I’d wake up in Octo Valley in a small, dark building. My torso, arms, and legs were tied to a chair. Three people were looking at me, all Inklings. There were two teenage girls and a fierce, younger-looking teen boy, the Inkling soldier who I had fought with earlier. He had some bruises on his head and a large bandage on his left cheek with some ink dripping out of it.

I remember everything everybody said.

‘She might start waking up soon. It’s been a while,’ I remember the grey-haired girl saying.

‘Let’s just put the damn beast down already,’ The soldier said.

Then I heard the one with the long tentacles say, ‘Wait, let’s hear her out!’

‘Are you insane?! She tried to kill me, One!’ The soldier yelled.

I heard One respond, saying, ‘Three, did you threaten her with her gun before she attacked you?’

Three was silent.

I heard a chuckle come from the grey-haired Inkling girl in response.

‘Shut the fuck up, Two!’ Three yelled at her.

I remember saying, ‘H-hello?’ after.

‘She’s awake! Y’all missed your damn chances!’ Three stated.

‘C’mon, Three, be cool.’ I heard Two say.

‘Anyways, you are Marina Ida, correct? Retired Octarian combat engineer. Octo-Salmonid War hero. This is all right?’ Two began speaking to me in Octarian. I was surprised at how well she spoke my language.

I know I said in the same language, ‘I wish it wasn’t but, yes, it is all factual.’

‘Hmmm… interesting.’ Two said with a surprised face.

I looked up to her, confused.

She said with a smile, ‘I’m just surprised that you had said something like that. What, was Octavio letting you have more freedom of speech privileges now that you had a task as risky as invading Inkopolis?’

The words ‘invading Inkopolis’ shook me. I realized she thought I was still under Octavio’s command. 

I said, ‘Two, I’m n-not under Octavio’s command anymore.’

‘Bullshit!’ Three yelled in Inkling, pointing his gun at me.

I gasped in response, but One managed to forcibly pull him back with her hands.

Two sighed and continued in Octarian, ‘Look, I’ve heard about you, Marina. I’ve heard of what the Salmonids did to you, and I think you could be a kind girl. You’re not emotionless like many Octarian soldiers. You cried when you had to. You were tough, too, but you had acted like a real person. I’m not saying I completely believe you, okay. I mean, it would be bizarre for Octavio to send an agent to Inkopolis right before his downfall, but eh, we don’t know what his strategy is.’

‘It could be a distraction! A trick! She’ll free him!’ Three said.

‘Eh, maybe or maybe not. I’m gonna keep an open mind, though,’ she said in Inkling. Then, switching back to Octarian, she said, ‘Marina, I’ll make you a deal. Look, I still can’t trust you, but, you can stay here in Inkopolis under these conditions. You have to agree to be put under our surveillance. What does this mean? It means we’ll be allowed to uh, spy on you, I guess. It’s not as bad as it sounds because you know the reasoning. You agree to consent?’

I gave them a look of suspicion, but I had no choice. ‘Yes, I do,’ I said.

‘Also,’ Two continued, ‘You have to work as a combat engineer for us for a year. Doing that with no interruptions will prove to us that you’re truly reformed. I’m sure Octavio wouldn’t let you work for us for a year.’

My hearts sank when I heard her talk about that condition.

I said, ‘Two, I-’

‘Marina, we aren’t the Octarian military leaders. We won’t bait you with food or make you work to the sound of bombs going off.’

I sighed and accepted the proposition, signing a piece of paper she gave me. It was really difficult considering my arms were tied to the chair, but I still managed to be able to sign.

‘You’re fucking EVERYBODY over, Two!’ Three stated, still being held back by One, ‘EVERYBODY!’

I tried to ignore his words, but I found it to be harder and harder to do.

‘Okay, so, you’re free now. Go wherever you were gonna go. Buy a house or something. Here’s my phone number.’ Two said as she handed me a slip of paper.

It was those statements that made me realize how the Calamari Inkantation brought me up here very suddenly. It had reformed me and made me Inkling friendly, but because of how it occurred with no warning, I was unable to bring any of my life’s savings with me.

I was broke. I had no home or phone. I had nobody up here. I couldn’t buy food. I was reformed, but at the cost of everything.

I panicked. I started shaking, and they quickly took notice.

I remember One asking what was wrong with me.

I know Three responded with, ‘She’s having a seizure! We must as well-‘

‘SHUT THE FUCK UP!’ I remember yelling in Inkling, shocking everyone, including Three.

I remember tears started running from my eyes.

In Octarian, I said, ‘I can’t buy a house. I don’t have a phone. I-I was brought up here by the Calamari Inkantation. It took control of me and-‘

‘Oh.’ Two said with a concerned tone.

‘Well, look…’ Two didn’t finish that statement.

I hated how I was making myself seem pitiful to them. I don’t want this whole thing to be a pity party either, Pearlie. I just… I needed to talk to someone about this.”

Pearl was silent throughout the whole thing, but Marina was able to see the devastation in her face. She knew she was fighting hard not to interrupt the story.

She mouths an “okay.”

“Two decided to let me live in the New Squidbeak Splatoon workplace in Inkopolis. It wasn’t of the greatest conditions, but I couldn’t be more thankful of Two’s help. She even gave me a laptop. It was in poor shape, but nonetheless, it was still a thoughtful gift.

When I first began exploring the city, I wandered into this place called Mount Nantai. There, I met someone who would become become my first friend, besides Two. Her name was Pearl. She was a short Inkling, but also an energetic and friendly one.

She exposed me to most of the Inkling culture I know today. The music, the language, the sports… I only know as much as I do today about them because of her and I couldn’t be any more thankful.

But being an Octarian in Inkopolis came with a grand problem, even after assimilation.

Only the NSS knew I was Octarian. In general people thought I was a foreign Inkling with a unique hairstyle. I-I didn’t know whether or not I would face prejudice if I let people know I was Octarian.

Two told me that many Inklings still held negative views on Octarians, but there were more tolerant Inklings too.

I-I just couldn’t take the chance. I had to hide my species, even from you, Pearl, because I didn’t know your opinion and I just couldn’t lose you. I didn’t want to bring up Octarians at all because I didn’t want to cause any suspicion.

I thought I wouldn’t be able to ever keep a good job or reputation if people knew I was Octarian. I thought I’d become disgraced by many. I defected from Octarian society to live with the Inklings. Th-Th-That’s one of the worst things an Octarian can do by their societal standards. If I was deported, I’d be killed and life was finally starting to get better.

I’d have to live with constant anxiety and nightmares, but Inkling society was at least better in every other way. It was so much more lively. There were no more soldiers patrolling the streets. No more war. Everyone was so much happier.

For the first time, between spending time with you and with how I began to write music, I began to feel truly happy. Ironically, as I began to combat engineer for the NSS, an interest in combat engineering began growing in me. I started to enjoy something I previously loathed due to the conditions I had to work in.”

Marina begins smiling.

“Our band became successful and we were loved by so many people. When the Squid Sisters left their television show, we were allowed to take over. We were the successors to the Squid Sisters, my saviors!”

Marina’s smile fades.

“But my worries still lingered over me. They got so much worse when we became famous. I worried about whether or not the Great Turf War veterans would eventually notice my features and start to expose what my species truly was. 

What was worse was what would occur if they found out about my military history. For sixteen years, I believed that these people were barbarians.”

Marina pauses for a few moments until her face turns into one of disgust and anger.

“I’m such a piece of shit, aren’t I?! I let myself believe propaganda that was clearly bullshit about these people who I now live off of! I’ve worked for a man who advocated for the GENOCIDE OF THEM! FUCK!”

Marina puts her hands on her face. Pearl is silent, but has a concerned face on. She is trying to figure out what to say.

Marina removes her hands from her face and looks at Pearl with the same expression. “I was so caught up in anxiety that I didn’t even think about how much wrong I-I-I’ve really done. I shrugged it off as some dumb mistake that I’ve learned from and should be able to move on from without thinking about its full scale. I-I’m just a fucking warmonger to you now, aren’t I?! I-I-I fucking deserve it! What I did was unforgiva-”

Marina’s words are interrupted by thin lips making contact with her mouth. Pearl quickly moves towards Marina and sits on her lap, hugging her tightly. Marina embraces Pearl back, wrapping her arms around her neck.

After a while, the kiss breaks. Pearl moves back and looks down to the floor and then up to Marina with tears dripping down her eyes.

“Y-y-you still love me? Even after telling you everything, you still want to be with me?” Marina asks shyly.

Pearl puts her hands to her head and begins sobbing. Marina, with tears forming from her eyes, decides to put Pearl on her lap and hug the short girl close.

“M-M-Marina, I… I’m so sorry things had to be this way. I’m so sorry you had to go through so much… whatever the hell that stuff was!”

She continues to sob in Marina’s grasp.

“Never ever fucking say that shit about yourself Marina. You’re the best person I know!”

“B-b-but I-“

“You WOULD have thought about how you were at fault way before if you actually were. You’re just stressed out right now and not thinking straight!”

“B-b-but, I believed their propaganda!”

“Marina! You want me to say the obvious?! You didn’t know any better!”

Pearl is met with silence from a frowning Marina, staring into space.

Pearl soon stops sobbing and then whispers, “Hey, look…” She gently moves Marina’s face so she is looking at her.

“You need to calm down. We both need too. It’s clear that you aren’t well, Marina, as much as I h-hate to say it. I have to get you a therapist, one that is very trustworthy. But, remember that I’m always here too.”

Marina nods gently.

“I’m so sorry, Marina. I just don’t know what to do about the species thing, but know that anytime that you are uncomfortable, I’m here for you.”

Marina whispers in response, “Thank you.”

“Marina, through this, my respect for you has exploded. Working in those conditions… being tortured and surviving… having to live under constant fear… I can’t imagine any of it and I would have certainly lost my mind if I was in your situation.”

There’s a small pause.

“Look, I want to do more stuff for you.”

“Pearlie, please…”

“ANYTHING you want is your’s. Understand? I will do whatever I can to make you happy.”

“But Pearlie, I don’t need anymore objects. All I really want is a successful career and you, but more so the latter to be honest.”

A deep blush appeared on Pearl’s face.

“Look, I grew up spoiled in a rich household. You grew up working in the damn military and enduring bullshit!”

“Pearlie, I just want things to return to normal between us. I don’t want it all to become a pity party.”

Pearl pauses to think for a moment.

“O-Okay. I understand that.” Pearl says as she glances at the time.

“It’s getting late. I’m going to go put dinner together.”

“Okay. Thank you so much for letting me talk about this. It felt good to finally get out.”

“No problem. Anything for you.”

Pearl hops off Marina’s lap and turns around. She starts walking towards the kitchen, but stops and turns back to face Marina.

“Marina, before I go…”

“Yes?”

“I just want you to know that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You bring so much joy in my life and I could never repay you for it. Just know that here, you’re loved. Here, you’re safe, okay?

Marina pauses for a few moments. Then, she starts tearing up again.

“Pearlie, you’ve done too much for me. You got me a great place to stay in after we started dating. You taught me all about Inkling society. I’m not good enough for you but you keep me around anyway. I… I don’t deserve any of this Pearl. Not after devoting much of my life to military service against your kind. I… I can’t be the greatest person you know. What kind of best friend would believe in such bigoted ideas for most of her life directly against you? I may not have known better, but it’s still terrible! What kind of best friend would act upon those ideas and make weapons that… they’re probably using right now to train to fight against… INKLINGS! FUCK! I NEED TO GO!”

Marina sprints out of the room. She is too fast for Pearl to stop.

Pearl tries to give chase, but is unable to catch up. She sees Marina run out of the house in the late afternoon on a cold winter day with only a shirt and pants on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ultimately I’m pretty sure this is going to be four chapters. I’ve got a stupidly busy week ahead so I can’t predict when the last chapter will come out but my goal is to upload it by the end of this weekend.


	4. Think Clearly

“REENA! STOP! YOU’RE NOT A BAD PERSON!”

Pearl throws on a jacket as quickly as she can and then chases her girlfriend through the sidewalks of Inkopolis right from their house. Marina is far ahead and she knows she will lose Pearl soon enough. Tears are running from both of their eyes.

Eventually, it happens. Marina keeps going different corners. She stays in the less busy parts of Inkopolis, so there are no cars stopping her. Marina turns one more corner, and with it, Pearl loses her.

Pearl looks at all the possible ways Marina could have gone. She tries her luck and goes one way, but does not see her. She tries another and the same result occurs. The last one? No Marina in site.

“MARINA!” Pearl yells. She then falls onto her knees and sobs, defeated.

“P-p-please… come home…”

Marina feels thirteen again. She is running, but is unsure of where she is going. She hears bombs dropping. She hears the yells of Octarians and Salmonids and the sounds of gunfire. She just wants to be alone, away from everything.

You’re a disgrace, she thinks. How did you not realize that you left a legacy? How did you not think about how poor your opinions were towards THE PEOPLE YOU DEPEND ON besides a mere shrug-off? You shouldn’t have let your anxiety and PTSD take over your mind. You should have thought about the bad that you’ve done more. You don’t deserve Pearl. You don’t deserve your fame. All you deserve is to rot in the deepest depths of the underground.

Marina eventually stops running, her eyes now dry.

She looks around and sees only more houses, yards, and pavement, with tall rectangular buildings in the distance.

What now?

Marina is unable to live under Pearl’s household any longer considering what she has done. Marina begins thinking, Should I return to the underground? No… I’d be hung and I vow not to die by the hands of the Octarian government. Should I just become homeless? Maybe… Should I just kill myself? No. That won’t fix anything. That would be dodging the consequences of my actions, and I deserve the worst consequences that can be handed out.

Marina pauses for a moment.

She thinks, Pearl will be happy without me, right? She can easily find another bandmate whose a thousand times better than I…

Right?

She continues to pause. She thinks about how devastating it was to hear Pearl yell out Marina’s name when she lost track of her. It punched her right in the gut. And her words when she was trying to cheer her up… Marina thinks about how sincere Pearl seemed when she was talking about how much she loved her.

“No matter how terrible you feel,” Marina says to herself, “you can’t make Pearl suffer any of the consequences. Pearl loves you. She does not understand how terrible I am, but she loves me. I can’t abandon her, my adorable Pearlie.”

Marina tears up yet again. “I’m such an idiot…”

Marina looks around again. Thankfully, she’s familiar with the part of the neighborhood she is in and knows how to get back home.

However, it was cold. Very cold.

The running had heated her up a little, but now she is too tired to run anymore. She hugs herself as she makes the slow trek to her love.

Pearl manages to get home much quicker, absolutely devastated that she lost her.

“I let her run away… my love… she’s GONE!”

Pearl sees the refrigerator that she was going to open up earlier to get food to eat for dinner.

She will be having dinner alone for now on. Half of her bed will be empty from now on. Off the Hook is dead. Marina is not coming back. She either is going to kill herself or is just completely isolated from the real world.

“None of this was her fault,” Pearl says, “The Octarian government did this to her. The Salmonids did this to her. The Great Turf War did this to her.”

Pearl needs to talk to someone about this. She frantically calls Marie.

“Hello?” Marie says.

“Oh, hi Marie…” Pearl says with a sad tone and a frown.

“What happened? It’s once in a century I hear you talk with that tone.”

“I… just… FUCKING HATE WARMONGERS!” Pearl says as she forms fists and smashes the sides of them into a table.

“Uh…”

“Marina’s, gone, Marie! She’s gone! She had a stress attack!”

“WHAT?!”

“She told me EVERYTHING! She told me about the Salmonids! She told me about her military service! She told me about all the genocidal BULLSHIT!”

Pearl pauses for a few seconds to take deep breaths.

With a lower and calmer voice, she continues, “She also told me about her anxiety and PTSD. She shrugged off her military service to Octavio as just a mistake. She focused much more on worrying about her species and military history being revealed and her PTSD. She worried that Inkling prejudice would kill her reputation if her species was revealed, or her military history would turn people off from her since she worked for the Octarians and believed that Inklings were bad. But once she retold her backstory, she started thinking more in-depth and now she thinks she’s scum! She started going on about how her getting money from Inklings due to our careers is wrong since she believed in Octavio’s propaganda. She said she understood the scale of it was much greater than she thought or something like that. She wasn’t thinking straight!”

Pearl places her hands on her face.

“SHIT!” Marie yells.

Pearl places her hands on her sides and says, “Yeah, and now, she could be anywhere in the damn city!”

“Pearl, I’m so sorry. Who knows? She might come back! Please stay optimistic, okay?”

“Wait… so you can’t do anything to find her?”

“I can only do what the average Inkling can do: spread the word and just try to look and get others to do so and hope we have good luck. I’m so sorry, Pearl…”

“Marina…” Pearl says quietly.

“Look, Marina’s one of the kindest people I know. I can’t believe that she would think of herself so terribly… I’ll try to do whatever I can, okay?” Marie says.

Pearl pauses for a moment and then replies, “O-okay. Thank you, Marie.”

Defeated, she sits in her chair in the dining room and sobs, her face planted on the table, and goes into deep thinking. She remembers fond things about Marina and the band; their first meeting, their first concert, their first television broadcast, and their first kiss. Suddenly, a deep realization hits Pearl, “I shouldn’t have ever told her to talk! I made her overthink the whole thing! FUCK!”

She walks into her room with her bed. The empty bed. The bed that Marina will never return to. She puts her body under the covers and continues to cry against the pillow, tears spilling from her face onto it and the sheet.

After many minutes of crying, Pearl hears knocking on the door. She immediately jumps up to her bed and sprints to it, her hopes up that it is Marina.

Through the peephole, she sees a guilt-ridden Octoling. Tears are forming at her eyes. She is hugging herself and shaking. Pearl immediately gasps and opens the door. Marina quickly walks in.

“Marina! Oh my gosh!” Pearl hugs the Octoling’s torso, but Marina immediately pushes her away.

“N-n-no…” Marina says with a shaky voice.

Pearl, bewildered and sad, says, “Oh, you’re mad at me, aren’t you?”

She shakes her head roughly. “I-I-I just don’t deserve hugs. I love you but I won’t do anything that will benefit the both of us and I don’t want you to do anything that will benefit me. Only you deserve the joy.”

Pearl’s jaw drops. “Marina! Please, you’re overthinking this whole thing! Th-th-this stress attack is all my fault! All of it! You were forced by me to tell your backstory and it led to you undergoing this attack and thinking you’re the worst Inkopolian ever!”

“BECAUSE I AM!” Marina yells louder than she ever has in, well, Pearl thinks ever in her presence.

Marina continues in a calmer, quieter fashion, “I only came back for you. I remembered that you, for whatever reason, still loved me even after I explained why I am not deserving of it all. You shouldn’t suffer the consequences of my actions. Also, Pearlie, please… you only made me think about it quicker. Something else would have caused me to think about it all if you hadn’t caused it.”

Pearl is silent. After a few seconds, she runs up to Marina. She pulls her in for one of the tightest hugs she has ever given the former soldier. Marina tries to resist, but Pearl’s grip on her torso is too strong. She pulls Marina down to a sitting position.

Pearl lets go of her body but begins petting her cheeks with her hands.

“Marina… you need help.”

“I-I-I know.” A distraught voice responds.

“This stress attack… it’s one of the worst I’ve ever seen period! Your thinking is completely crazy! Please, calm down. Is the petting helping?”

“No. I don’t deserve it!”

“YES YOU DO! Marina, think clearly. The government used you. People aren’t just born knowing what is correct and what is not. The government brainwashed you into thinking about this stuff. You were the government’s puppet. You had a bad opinion. It’s not as big a deal as you think, Marina, since the government taught you it and you didn’t know better. You DID act upon it through working for the Octarian military, but you made the weapons against the Salmonids, didn’t you? Even if you had made them against the Inklings, combat engineering is not a war crime. Yes, your weapons may be used in future wars, Marina. We need to accept that. However, you’re not evil. Species fight. War is a part of our nature. It WAS a big mistake, but it was out of your control. Even so, your combat engineering for the NSS certainly makes up for it to an extent. So, do you understand, Marina? You can’t blame yourself. I agree that the stuff you’ve done are still bad, but you committed no atrocities and you were brainwashed by the government.”

“But… genocide…”

“Huh?”

“They could use those weapons to commit genocide against Inklings…”

Pearl places a hand on Marina’s shoulder.

“Did you kill any Inklings who weren’t fighting in the war?”

“N-n-no…”

“Marina, you did not make those weapons for genocidal purposes. Them being used for genocide would be terrible, but that’s not what they were made for.”

“B-B-BUT IT’S STILL A POSSIBILITY!”

Marina lowers her head into her hands and starts crying again.

“Marina…”

The Octoling ignores her.

“Marina, please listen to me…”

Marina decides to lift her head up towards Pearl, albeit her eyes are still raining tears. Pearl decides to wipe many of the tears off Marina’s face.

“W-what?”

“If you never made the Flooders and updated the Great Octoweapons, then the Octarians would still have other weapons to use for genocidal purposes, right?”

“Y-yeah, I guess.”

“Look, I’m sure the Flooder and Great Octoweapons are efficient weapons so it’s likely they would be used a lot if a genocide ever happens, but if you hadn’t been there they would have just made a bunch of other weapons that together would very likely match the quality of the Flooder and the Great Octoweapons. They needed your skills because of the urgent situation of the Salmonid invasion. You and your team were quick. No other team would have been able to make such a complex weapon that quickly, right?”

“Y-yes. You’re correct. It would have taken them many more years. Octarian combat engineering is very complex.”

“So it doesn’t matter who made the weapon since if you weren’t there, many other people would have made weapons that together would be equal to yours in power and you didn’t make the weapon for genocidal reasons, okay? I’m sure other engineers were already working on weapons, but I’m also sure that the Octavio dude would have made them work on more complex things if you weren’t there.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Look, on behalf of all the good Inklings, you are forgiven for your military service, Marina. I understand the situation and other, good people will too. You didn’t do any of this stuff by your own will.”

Marina smiles.

“Thanks, Pearlie.”

Pearl smiles back. She was glad Marina was finally starting to cheer up a bit.

However, Marina’s smile fades quickly after it formed.

“But what about the people who won’t forgive me? What about the speciesists? We don’t know how many tolerant Inklings there are! I-I can’t reveal my species or my military history. I can’t…”

“You don’t have to, Marina. I’m so, so, sorry that you have to deal with this amount of pressure, but I’ll be with you to help you cope for now on, okay?”

“Okay…”

Marina then smiles again.

“I can’t thank you enough for everything, Pearlie. I… I couldn’t be any luckier to have you as my girlfriend. I love you so much.”

Pearl blushes intensely. “Gosh, Marina… you think YOU’RE the lucky one?”

They both giggle for the first time in a while.

“Alrighty, how about I go make dinner?”

“That… sounds good.”

Pearl gives Marina a quick kiss on her cheek and then walks to the kitchen. Marina walks into her room. She still feels some guilt in her stomach, but is still happy Pearl talked sense into her and will get help for her problems. Hopefully, Marina will finally be able to move on from all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wo writing fics is actually cool.  
> That’s the end of this fic for now. I might add more chapters if I get any ideas that directly tie into this story, but nonetheless I plan on making more stories set in this universe because I’m a bit headcanon crazy about it.  
> Also, if anybody was wondering, I have a headcanon that many Octarians didn’t believe in Inkling genocide in the same way as Marina, so I’m not saying here that most Octarians in the military were like the scum of the earth. If so, then like reformed Octarians wouldn’t really be much of a thing because genocide advocation is not really something you can come back from.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m new to the fan fic field, so comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated! Thank you!  
> By the way, I plan on making this at least three chapters.  
> Writing updates will be on my main Instagram account, @mario.misc_101.


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